*Somewhere far from the Crimson Moon Empire.*

*A candlelit room in a cheap adventure's inn.*

*4 months later*

*A girl sits at a cheap wooden desk. Short hair. ink strained fingers A sword propped against the wall behind her*

*she is writing a Letter*

(flashback one month before the escape)

Velmrath Royal Palace. Grand banquet hall.

Prince Lucian's 16th birthday celebration

"The banquet hall is all gold and candlelight. Every noble family in the kingdom has sent their finest. Gowns.Jewels. Practiced smiles. The kind of event Selene was never officially invited to but attending anyway. Standing near the back. Holding something wrapped in cloth. A bracelets set in a silver frame. Homemade carefully hers."

"Six resonance crystals. Northern Valdris mountain passes. Eleven trips. Two years of collecting. I learned the warding technique from the library book nobody else had touched in twenty years. Set every crystal by hand. No magic tool no instructor. Just me and a technique i thought myself in secret. It will shield him from one direct fatal strike. Automatically no Mana from the wearer it just protects. He is reckless in combat practice. I have watched him for three years. I just wanted him to be safe. Thats all. That was everything."

"She steps forward When the gift presentation begins. Walks to the Prince Lucian with the bracelet held carefully in both open palms. Her hands are not shaking she made sure of that"

"Lucian looks at the bracelet. Then at Selene. Then past her Solara standing nearby in a gold gown that catches every light in that room. He smiles not at Selene 😏"

"laughter from the nearest tables Selene says nothing. Holds the bracelet steady."

"He is already gone Already laughing with Solara. Already completely done. A servant appears at Selene's elbow. Reaches for the bracelet. Selene looks at it one last time. Six crystals. Silver frame. Two years of cold mountain mornings. She let it go of it. Walks out of the banquet hall. Does not run. Does not cry. Not there. Not where they can see "

[behind her in the chaos of hundred gifts and dozen moving servants,the bracelet gets mixed into the wrong pile. Nobody notices. Six crystals,still waiting,still patient still hers.]

(AT THE SAME NIGHT IN VALDRIS DUCHY)

[Grand Duke's study late night] "her father is waiting Grand Duke Aldren Valdris. A man who has never once looked at Selene the way he looks at his other children. Tonight his face is something colder than anger."

[Selene does not move. Does not flinch. She has heard variations of this her entire life. But never this exact words, never that clearly, never with that cold certainty.]

[she got out of his sight. Walked to her room which is far from the main halls in the farthest corner of the Grand duchy. Sat on the floor with her back against the door. And for a very long time she just sat there in the dark just thinking.]

(THREE HOURS LATER. DEEP NIGHT)

Selene's room ag 3 am I think i had been living in a bubble. A bubble where if i was patient enough, if i tried hard enough, if i loved people hard enough someone would eventually look at me and actually see me. Not the zero mana. Not the cursed child. Not the black star. Just ME.

Sitting on the floor I felt the bubble pop Not dramatically not with tears or rage. Just quietly. Like a held breath finally let go. And in the silence after for the first time in my life i thought clearly.

I am not going to Coldvast Estate. I am not going to spend my life waiting for people who have decided i am worth noting. I am going to leave tonight ON MY OWN TERMS.

She stands up, Moves quietly and quickly the way only someone who spent years being invisible knows how to move. She takes: her training clothes, her journal her savings 5 gold,309 silvers 200 copper coins every weapon hidden under the floorboards over four years of secret practice. She stops at the door and looks back at the room one last time. Leaves nothing behind worth keeping.

In the front of broken mirror silver hair red eyes Selene Valdris she picks up the small practice blade. looks at her reflection for a long moment. the blade moved stands fell soft, silent. Like something breaking. Again until the girl was gone The person in the mirror looks back like a stranger. She wrapped the cloth tight around her chest a small breath shaky,then still changed to male training clothes.looked up short silver hair cold red eyes and expression less face no daughter of Valdris's.

(BEFORE LEAVING THEO'S ROOM)

She almost didn't go. Almost told herself it was cleaner to leave without words But she stood outside his door for two full minutes. Then knocked. Once soft.

Theo eight years old, Hair sticking up, half asleep opens the door.sees her sees the bag sees the hair and male clothes. Goes very still😯

Selene pulls him into a hug and holds on for ten seconds then lets go. Stands up and doesn't look back at his face because if she does she will not leave

She doesn't answer that one walks down the corridor out the servant entrance into the cold dark before dawn. Alone short hair a bag of weapon and with a couple of mixed coins and nothing else

(BACK TO PRESENT)

She folds the letter Sets it on the desk. Blows out the candle. she picks up her sword sets it across her knees looks at the blade in the dark Tomorrow there are monsters to fight she has never once needed anyone's permission to do that

Vaelthorn Cross - border hub city

Early morning in a small room, cheap candle burnt to stub. Sword popped against the wall boots already on before sunrise

[five months in Vaelthorn Cross, seventeen b rank missions zero healer visits One room that smells like old wood. I love it here]

Three empires worth of people crammed into one border city. Crimson Moon merchants Celestial traders holy nations pilgrims with that face like they're too scared to touch the ground properly. Nobody ask who you are here, nobody cares where you came from. For a girl pretending to be a boy this place is paradise

at Vaelthorn Cross adventure guild

the guild hall is loud and warm Leo slides through the crowd like water between rocks short quite unbothered

Mission board - Vaelthorn Cross branch • Northern forest patrol rank [B] > 3 silvers • Merchant escort to holy border rank [B] > 5 silvers • Contaminated zone sweep, east sector rank [B] warning ⚠️ Miasma concentration high, Mana shielding gear recommended > 8 silver + material bonus Named monster Hog Goblin pack, east contaminated zone pack of 7 contaminated goblins Named leader : HOGRATH ⚠️ recommended party of 5 B rank minimum adventurers, Miasma zone mana shielding requires > reward 18 silver + named mana beast core bonus

Leo pulls the named mission slip off the board

Leo is already out the door Bren stands at the guild counter holding nothing Rosalia pats his hand you know he does this every week

At quest area > Contaminated zone outside area <

Zone has a smell before it has a look. Metallic, slightly sweet in a wrong way like a rain on a old iron left too long teo B rank adventurers stopped dead at the marker post, One coughing behind a mana filter mask the other checking gears with shaking hands

Long silence behind leo

Moments ahead Leo drops the sandwich wrapper.hands on the swords hilt eyes forward Three contaminated goblins scouts, smaller than the pack leader but moving with coordination someone is directing them

*Memory of past Nine years old at Valdris Duchy*

The training hall door is thick oak. The crack is barely a finger wide. But she has been standing here for 2 hours already. Secretly watching through it Inside - Tristan practicing sword forms with a senior soldier. Precise. Controlled Crimson shade mana wrapping the blade in dark red smoke with every strike, The soldier calls out corrections left foot further forward wrist loose 'you are gripping too hard young master' weight distribution or you'll lose the balance when you switch weapons Selene mouths the words along with him, she has heard this correction eleven times already today she has memorized all of them She had no mana l, nobody teach her this she watches training for some hours

*back to present*

The leader lunges, Leo steps left ,one motion, sword arcing in a clean diagonal cut. No wasted movements no hesitation Left foot further forward wrist loose weight distribution The Goblin hits the ground before it finishes its attack

Two more goblins from the left flank Leo pulls out swords on both hand, Eyes tracking both goblins simultaneously She watched and learned duel sword welding from a soldier named Caref He used to practice in duchy Selene used to watch him practice duel welding and used to practice it at night, Caref never knew he had been watched.

She tracked both gobin silently After some time Four goblins arranged in a rough circle around something larger In the center Hograth The named one, twice the size of standard goblins contamination had thickened the skin to something like a grey stone red eyes intelligent patient not just monster but a leader

Six total Hograth in center commanding others

Hograth spins at the sound of the second goblin It raises one hand the remaining three goblins begin to encircle

The three goblins rush in sequence, not together, in rotation Hograth directing from the centre, making sure Leo cant focus on one threat at a time Smart but Leo has been reading attack patterns since she was nine years old watching soldiers spar She reads the rotation, the pattern repeats she adjustes Gobin by goblin systematically taking down goblins with her chaotic duel sword style. Until only Hograth remains

Hograth looks at his fallen pack then at Leo with rage

It charges towards leo, Leo stands her ground. Parring Hograth strike The sword comes up in a two handed grip the way she saw her father demonstrate once to Tristan, she was hidden behind the pillar for an hour watching exactly this form from her father She puts everything she has into the blade

The sword glows Not fire not mana something else entirely. White-gold faint barely 3 seconds like a moonlight pressed into steel The stike lands Hograth falls The glow faded immediately, the sword is cold steel again like nothing happened

She stared at the blade for a long moment cold still normal Then pulls out her journal and writes down for 3 minutes Then collects Hograths core and goblins ears stands up keep moving

*at Vaelthorn Cross guild *

Bren has been at the counter since Leo left this morning

*in Leo(Selene's) room*

Continue writing journal Today the sword glowed white-gold for nearly 3 seconds Father used to say to my siblings "The Valdris family art was in the blood" That it requires crimson shade mana to express properly. That without crimson shade mana it is just Mimicry. still soldiers of Valdris's duchy infuse mana and trained it. But I have spent 7 years learning that art through garden walls cracks hidden But today sometime glowed through my empty moments Hmmm Not bad for mimicry And closed the journal

Thanks for reading